Voters throughout Amesbury and Newburyport will head to the polls today to vote for elected offices in those cities.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Newburyport voters face several contested races.

Council President James Shanley and Councilor-at-large Donna Holaday face off for mayor, while voters in Wards 1 and 3 have ward City Council races. Seven candidates are running for five councilor-at-large seats.

Newburyport will also have one question on the ballot, asking them to elect a nine-member Charter Commission that will study the city's charter and make recommendations to improve it. There are 20 candidates running for the nine commission slots, and they will also be on the ballot.

City Clerk Rich Jones said yesterday that it looks like the weather will cooperate for Election Day.

"I would like it to be a big turnout," he said.

There were 264 absentee ballots cast for this election, Jones said.

"They've been streaming in," he said. Last election, there were 297 absentee ballots cast.

In Amesbury, there's only one contested race on the ballot: the race for mayor. Incumbent Thatcher Kezer faces challenger Alison Lindstrom.

Town Clerk Bonnijo Kitchin is hoping for a larger turnout than was seen in the town's September preliminary election. Only 6.9 percent of Amesbury's registered voters turned out for that election, which featured three candidates for mayor vying in the only contested race.

Kitchin urges everyone in town to do their civic duty and fill in the circle for their mayoral candidate of choice.

"If they want their voice heard that's the only way that it happens, is coming out to vote," Kitchin said yesterday.

At 1 p.m. yesterday, Kitchin had yet to assess how many absentee ballots had been received by the noon deadline, but she wasn't impressed with the amount of traffic in and out of the clerk's office.

"I haven't looked to see how many absentee ballots we have yet, but we haven't had a whole flurry. Hopefully, we'll have a lot more (voters) than the preliminary election. I'm hoping more people come out."

All of Amesbury votes at Town Hall.

Kitchin said she has six volunteers lined up for each district, which should provide expedient access and quick turnaround time for voters. That should be more than enough people to handle tomorrow's crowd, said Kitchin, who is hoping to match the 29.43 percent turnout numbers from the general election two years ago. But that could be a tall order.

"We don't have the big draw other than mayor, and we don't have any questions or any races that have people running against one another," Kitchin said. "We had a total of 3,289 voters (in 2007), but you also have to remember that we had four questions on the ballot that pulled people out, as well as a race for library trustee, the race for mayor and the races for council."

Unless this is your first time voting, you will not need to present a driver's license or identification before casting your ballot.

POLLING PLACES

Newburyport

Ward 1P (Plum Island) — The former Parker River National Wildlife Headquarters, 261 Northern Blvd., Plum Island.

Ward 1 — People's United Methodist Church, 64 Purchase St.

Ward 2 — Brown School, 40 Milk St.

Wards 3 and 4 — Hope Community Church, 11 Hale St.

Wards 5 and 6 — Bresnahan School, 333 High St.

Amesbury

Town Hall

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.